National Aid Fund to largely expand aid programme to reduce poverty

AMMAN — The government is working on a plan to increase the number of beneficiaries of the National Aid Fund and expand aid programmes implemented by the fund, a government official said.

The plan, which was drafted by the fund in cooperation with World Bank experts, entails increasing the annual financial allocations to the fund, which will help reduce poverty rate in the Kingdom by 35 per cent, the official told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

“The current limited financial allocations for the fund hamper its ability to make a difference and lead to tangible reduction in poverty rates. The planned increase in the fund’s budget will help address the situation,” the official stated.

The plan includes the increase of the fund’s budget by JD50 million in 2019 and by an additional JD50 million in 2020, the official added, noting that the fund’s budget for this year stands at JD104 million.

The scheme entails improving outreach mechanisms and covering new segments with cash aid programmes, as part of a nationwide strategy prepared by the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation to enhance social protection and eliminate poverty, the official commented.

Last week, the Council of Ministers decided to double the number of beneficiaries of the National Aid Fund programme to include 85,000 new families between 2019 and 2021 at a cost of JD100 million.

The number of families currently benefitting from the fund is 92,000, and the total number of beneficiaries will gradually increase to reach 177,000 in the next three years.

Increasing the number of beneficiaries from the fund will be based on various indicators and criteria to reach the poorest families and those in dire need, the official said, adding that the plan also aims to empower the beneficiaries to find jobs.

“The new beneficiaries will be selected at the end of this year and the results of the national household income and expenditure survey that is being conducted by the Department of Statistics will be taken into account,” the official concluded.